Beer Calendar: Send Summer Off at Prost, Westfax and Alpine Dog

Two breweries will open their doors for the first time this week on opposite ends of the greater Denver metro area, one in Littleton and one in Boulder.

Lariat Lodge Brewing, which was founded in Evergreen in 2015, has turned on the lights at its second outpost, this one at 12684 West Indore Place, in Littleton's Ken Caryl neighborhood. The huge, 18,000-square-foot brewpub has a twenty-barrel brewing system and a full food menu very similar to the Evergreen spot.

Unnamed Beer Company, located at 2907 55th Street, is the first new brewery to open in Boulder in a couple of years. Unnamed says on its website that it's woman-owned and has a penchant for art — everything from street art to the art of brewing. The brewery will have a soft opening starting at 4 p.m. Thursday, August 22, and then will be open Friday and Saturday.

Wednesday, August 21River North Brewery was known for its Wayward Wednesdays series of beer tappings at its original location at 24th and Blake streets. Now that the brewery has finally returned to RiNo, at 3400 Blake, it's bring back the tradition by tapping an unusual or experimental beer each Wednesday. Drop in to see what's pouring.

Thursday, August 22Great Divide Brewing brings back Hoss, its popular Oktoberfest-style Marzen beer on draft at both of its locations. The beer will be released in cans later in the week.

Friday, August 23Join the Grateful Gnome as it brings Mosaic Single Hop Rye IPA back to the tap wall. "Clocking in at 6.6 percent ABV, this beer has aromas of stone fruit, peach rings and sweet citrus that are rounded out by a dry, spicy finish contributed from the use of rye malt," the brewery says. The Gnome opens at 11 a.m. Little Machine Beer Company taps Son of the Guava Kettle Sour, a 5.5 percent ABV tart beer with guava added to the fermentation (and brewed for GABF). DJ Ill Evans will be spinning vinyl from 7 to 9 p.m.

The Intrepid Sojourner Beer Project puts an unusual beer on tap at 3 p.m. MO’AIPA is a 6.1 percent pale ale that was made with yeast that head brewer Andrew Moore collected from Easter Island during his honeymoon with his wife last fall. "Moore left agar plates — similar to petri dishes — out to collect ambient microbes and pressed other plates with local flowers and plants. Denver’s Inland Island Yeast Laboratories helped isolate and propagate the samples," the brewery says. Easter Island is "where the Rapa Nui people centuries ago carved the famous giant stone statues known as Mo’ai." To help finish the beer, Moore added mango, guava and viognier wine during fermentation. "Many thanks to my patient wife for allowing me to start this project during such a special occasion," he says.

Saturday, August 24Prost Brewing celebrates seven years in business with a party featuring the tapping of an anniversary beer, food from Areyto Puerto Rican, anniversary merchandise, music and entertainment.

The Cultural Center, a joint taproom operated by the Amalgam and Westbound & Down breweries, will host one of its "occasional" openings from noon to 6 p.m. Located at 6381 Beach Street, Unit A, the event will include the release of Westbound's Solera Saison, Solera Saison + dry hop, Blackberry Sage Saison and Apricot Slow Roll. Laziz Ya Lebanese will be serving authentic Mediterranean food until 4 p.m.

Sip on some summer suds at Westfax Brewing, which will tap its first-ever pilsner and a small-batch seltzer, alongside "a ton of other summer fun," the brewery says. There will be a photo booth, the Farm to Truck food truck, games to win prizes and ’60s beach music. Check the Facebook page for details.

Hop-O-Tronic Lupulositor (yes, that's a beer) returns to both locations of River North Brewery on draft and in canned six-packs to go. This hazy double IPA features Galaxy, Mosaic and Citra hops.

Another round of summer beers will go on tap at Alpine Dog Brewing. They include a mixed-culture Sour Golden Ale fermented and aged on oak, Summer in the City French Saison and Chardonnay Barrel Aged Ski Naked Saison. There will be live music and food from Peyote Mexican Food Truck.

Colorado Springs saison specialist Trinity Brewing is celebrating eleven years of "bringing people together for great beer and food" with a birthday party featuring three beer releases: Triple Dry Hop 11th Anniversary IPA, Honey Sour and Red Swingline. The brewery will raffle off original cellar bottles, merchandise and red Swingline staplers (starting at 5 p.m.). There will also be other deals and fun.

Sunday, August 25Black Sky Brewery will tap Ale Satan, a coffee honey brown ale that was brewed in support of the Satanic Temple Colorado, an organization with a complex set of beliefs that boil down to this: "to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will." Counterintuitive? Maybe. You'll have to Google it like we did and make up your own mind. A portion of the proceeds from each pint of Ale Satan sold at the release, which lasts from 1 to 8 p.m., will be donated to the Satanic Temple to help fund its upcoming projects.

It's another Hazy Sunday at River North Brewery's Washington Street location. This month's variation of the brewery's flagship Mountain Haze IPA includes versions with two different hops.

Finn's Manor is turning over all of its taps to Belgian beers today for its Gallivanting Around Belgium party. The beer bar will have all seven St. Bernardus beers pouring, along with beers from De Dolle Brouwers, Brouwerij De Brabandere, Rodenbach, Brasserie de Blaugies, Brouwerij De Ranke, Brouwerij Boon & Brasserie Cantillon. In addition, Finn's is raiding its lambic bottle stash for a bottle sale of epic proportions (for on-site consumption only) at the outside bar. For the list and more, go to the Finn's Manor website.

Monday, August 26Great Divide Brewing celebrates its longstanding partnership with the Denver Zoo by kicking off a week-long fundraiser at both of its taprooms. "While Great Divide beer has been available at the Denver Zoo for many years, in 2017 we partnered on Zooski, a refreshing and crisp blonde ale featuring one of the zoo’s camels and available exclusively at the zoo," the brewery explains. For Zoo Week, Zooski will be on tap for the first time outside of the zoo, and Great Divide will donate $1 from every full pour. There will also be a limited amount of Denver Zoo pint glasses available for purchase.

Goldspot Brewing taps Summertime Magic, the latest installment in its rotating collaboration with Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery. The beer is a blueberry lemon sour IPA dry-hopped with Mosaic and Lemondrop hops. It has "notes of citrus, pineapple, blueberry pie and assertive lemon sourness, all rounded out by a slight spiciness from the hops," the brewery says. Goldspot opens at 3 p.m.

Chef & Brew.

Danielle Lirette

Wednesday, August 28 Chef & Brew, a food and beer tasting and competition that stands out as one of Denver's best, returns to Exdo Event Center with more than thirty dishes from local chefs and around forty beers. Judges will pick a winner while attendees will choose a fan favorite. Tickets, $50 to $70, are at chefandbrew.com.

Black Shirt Brewing will tap Red Evelyn Red Rye Double IPA in honor of the founders' grandmother. The once-a-year release has always been a special occasion for the brewery.

Just in time for the Phish concerts this weekend, Fiction Beer Company is tapping Olfactory Hues IPA (inspired by the PHISH song "Lawn Boy"), a 5.9 percent ABV beer. "The song is very much about dank, earthy scents, which inspired us to create a highly aromatic IPA that is a true olfactory experience," the brewery says. "We wanted an earthy evergreen hop aroma so we chose Chinook, Simcoe and Warrior hops for bittering, as well as aroma and flavor. With such strong forest aromas in the boil, we dry hopped with Mosaic and Azacca hops to create a balanced and complimentary fruity character. Hop-forward aromas of evergreen forest floor with notes of tropical fruit. An underlying bitterness that is not sharp or biting."

Ratio Beerworks brings back the King of Carrot Flowers, a carrot juice and elderflower saison at 5 p.m. First introduced in celebration of EatDenver's 2017 Harvest Week, King of Carrot Flowers "bursts forth in an illuminated, ripe cantaloupe orange hue, while exhibiting subtle fruit-forward citrus notes and nuances of pear, honey, coriander and vanilla," the brewery says. "This vibrant, expressive, dry saison showcases the versatility that can occur between beer and food."

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Station 26

Saturday, August 31Station 26 Brewing brings back its third annual Phish Dicks weekend in honor of the band playing in Denver. The brewery will tap You'll Never Get Out of This Haze, a Vermont-style hazy pale ale, in four-packs of specially designed sixteen-ounce cans. Rastasaurus will play from 1 to 4 p.m., and Basic Kneads will serve pizza. Then on Sunday, Bottlerocket Hurricane will play music and the G Wagon Denver will have food.

Friday, September 6Tivoli Brewing celebrates its sixth anniversary from 5 to 10 p.m. with a party featuring live music from Velvet Compass and Guerrilla Fanfare, Oktoberfest stein-holding contests, Gelande Quaffing and other beer games, Tivoli beers on the quad and other fun. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com.

Saturday, September 7 With the openings of Flytco Brewing and Empourium Brewing on Tennyson Street in northwest Denver, the strip is now packed with five breweries. Four of them will participate in the Tennyson Street Brewery Crawl and Silent Auction from 2 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 and include one beer at each brewery on the tour, a dinner buffet at the end from local restaurants, and a silent auction. The crawl kicks off at Call to Arms and then proceeds south to De Steeg at 2:50 p.m., Empourium at 3:40 p.m. and Flyteco at 4:30 p.m. for the dinner and silent auction. The event benefits Education First, helping underprivileged kids.

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